Fragrance is an important element that creates, for example, preference, a sense of luxury, a sense of ease, and expectations for the effect for products, and the like. Furthermore, a distinctive fragrance provides a product differentiation effect and the capacity for attracting customers. On the other hand, in order to control, for example, a long-lasting property and balance of fragrance, generally, a fragrance is imparted to a product using a fragrance composition in which a plurality of fragrance materials are mixed together. It is required for the fragrance materials composing the fragrance composition to be highly harmonious with other fragrance materials.
With respect to the fragrance materials having unsaturated aliphatic nitrile structures, it is known that geranyl nitrile, which is 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-octadienenitrile, has a strong lemon/citral like odor, that Lemonile (Givaudan), which is 3,7-dimethyl-2,6-nonadienonitrile, has a fatty acid-like, warm, and powerful citrus-like odor, and that Mandaril (Symrise), which is 3,12-tridecadienenitrile, has a touch of refreshing orange peel with a fresh, cool, watery, and sweet tangerine note (Non-Patent Document 1).
In addition, Patent Document 1 describes that specific 3,5,7-trimethyloctane(octene)nitrile and a derivative thereof can be used as ingredients for perfume compositions.
Patent Document 2 describes that, for example, trimethyl octadienenitrile is useful as a fragrance component for imparting an olfactory note with a tone of lemon.
Patent Document 3 discloses a process for the preparation of ethylgeranonitrile by converting ethylheptenone with a deprotonated nitrile followed by hydrolysis and decarboxylation.
Patent Document 4 discloses specific trimethyldecene compounds with odor characteristics in which a tone of mandarin and a property similar to a fruit dominate.
Furthermore, it is known that Floral Super (IFF), which is 4,8-dimethyl-4,9-decadienal, has a strong green odor similar to that of vegetable leaves with a fruit-like odor (Non-Patent Document 1).
Very roughly speaking, fragrance materials have similar fragrances notes when they have similar structures to each other, but there are many exceptions. Particularly, when a plurality of substituents are combined to change the fragrance note, it is difficult to predict how the fragrance note will change and it also is difficult to predict the harmonicity with other fragrance materials.